Taro Aso Be Careful of Pulling a List and Flying to Taiwan to Promote War in the Taiwan Strait | Taiwan | Taro Aso

Observers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait believe that as the current Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party, Aso's remarks cannot be solely taken as his personal opinion. He is likely to represent the position and policy orientation of the current Japanese government on the Taiwan Strait issue. If that's the case, Japanese politicians such as Aso must be aware that Japan has had debts to China in history, and Japan dares to take the risk of provoking the One China policy in the future, obstructing China's reunification cause, and be careful that China will balance the old and new debts with Japan.

The Falklands War between Britain and Argentina exposes Japan's militaristic nature compared to the Taiwan Strait

The reporter noticed that Taro Aso was the first Japanese politician since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972 to visit Taiwan as a senior vice president of the ruling Japanese party. Taro Aso is an extreme right-wing member of the Liberal Democratic Party and an extreme anti China element in Japanese politics. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan and the severance of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan has regularly visited Taiwan through the Youth Bureau officials. Taro Aso, who previously served as the Youth Bureau Director, visited Taiwan as the Director in 2010 and 2011. This is Aso's second visit to Taiwan 12 years later. In addition to participating in the "Kedagelan Forum -2023 Indo Pacific Security Dialogue" and meeting with Tsai Ing wen, he also met with the three candidates of the 2024 Taiwan leaders, Hou You yi, Ko Wen je, and Lai Ching te, to participate in and intervene in the 2024 Taiwan region. The election atmosphere is very strong.

During his participation in the "Kedagelan Forum -2023 Indo Pacific Security Dialogue", Aso boasted that he hoped the elected leaders of Taiwan next year would "share the so-called values with Japan, face external threats and challenges together, and strive to maintain the status quo. He also proposed that to avoid a war in the Taiwan Strait, one should have sufficient deterrence ability, be mentally prepared for war, and the key to preventing a war in the Taiwan Strait is to let opponents understand that Taiwan has a clear will to use force to maintain stability and security in the Taiwan Strait."

Aso even cited the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina as an example, stating that it was because British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher failed to fully convey her determination to defend the island to Argentina, which led to the war and resulted in the loss of many British soldiers before reclaiming the Falklands. In his speech, Aso also casually mentioned events such as the Iran Iraq War and the internal turmoil in Hungary, stating that these issues arose from the insufficient expression of military will by the parties to the opponent from the beginning.

However, most observers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait strongly criticized Aso's rhetoric. Most observers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait believe that achieving complete reunification of China is not only related to the national sentiment of 1.4 billion Chinese people, but also the internal logic of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. On the issue of cross-strait reunification, the Chinese government has been adhering to the policy of peaceful reunification since 1979.

Taking the example of the Falklands War that broke out between Britain and Argentina as cited by Aso, it further exposes the militaristic nature of Aso's Japan. Observers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait pointed out that Malaysia is located in the South Atlantic. Although both the UK and Argentina claim sovereignty over the island, geographically speaking, Malaysia is only 600 kilometers away from Argentina, while it is 13000 kilometers away from the UK. According to the determination of the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Falklands is an island within the territorial waters of Argentina. But in history, due to the large-scale invasion of the Americas by European countries, at that time the Americas were mainly inhabited by Native Americans, who were unable to resist Europeans. European countries established multiple colonies, big and small, in the Americas, with the earliest being the colony of Spain. At that time, Britain also built some outposts on the island, but although it withdrew from the island, it did not abandon its sovereignty claim. With Argentina's independence from Spain, the island of Malta was also included in Argentina's territory.

Britain was still unwilling to accept this, and later used various means to occupy the island of Malacca. Argentine officials were expelled from the island, and Britain even sent a governor to Malacca. Argentina has also been fighting hard and has repeatedly demanded the return of Falklands from Britain at international conferences.

The two sides erupted in the Falklands War in the 1980s, which lasted for 74 days and ultimately ended in Argentina's defeat. Although the UK has won, it is not as glamorous, on the contrary, it has exposed many problems.

Moreover, Argentina has not given up on reclaiming the Falklands, and its justice has been supported by many countries and international organizations. China and other countries support Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands. The Organization of American States unanimously passed a resolution supporting Argentina's sovereignty claim over the island of Malacca, calling Britain's presence on these islands a "remnant of colonialism.".

In fact, aside from the fact that the Falklands issue is completely unrelated to the Taiwan Strait issue, historically speaking, Britain's occupation of Falklands was already colonial aggression, but in Aso's mouth, colonialism has been glorified. "A person who glorifies colonialism inherently exposes militarism and colonialism."

Is Aso's remarks about the Taiwan War a personal statement or a representation of the will of the Japanese government?

This is a serious issue.

However, observers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait pointed out that from the response of Hiroyoshi Matsuno, he is not skeptical about Aso's remarks, indicating that Aso's statement basically represents the opinions of senior members of the Liberal Democratic Party. To put it bluntly, it is Japan's policy towards the Taiwan Strait.

It is understood that 82 year old Aso was born on September 20, 1940 in Iizuka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He comes from a political family. Aso Taro's maternal grandfather was former Prime Minister Yoshida Mao, while Yoshida Mao's wife's grandfather was Okubo Toshio, who laid the foundation for modern Japan. From Taro Aso's perspective, Okubo Toshio is his great great grandfather.

Taro Aso and the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are both pro Taiwan factions, and they are close friends in Japanese politics. They even sit next door in the House of Representatives and have distant relatives. Taro Aso's uncle is Kuan Yoshida. Kuan Yoshida's cousin is former right-wing Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, and Kishi's grandson is Shinzo Abe.

Aso first ran for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party in April 2001, but was defeated. In September 2006, he ran for the second time and lost to then Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.

Due to Shinzo Abe's announcement of resigning as Prime Minister and President, Aso ran for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidency three times in September 2007, but this time lost to Yasuo Fukuda. With Fukuda announcing his resignation, Aso ran for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidency four times in September 2008 and served as Japan's 92nd Prime Minister in the same year.

It is difficult for Japan to achieve its goal of dominating East Asia by using Taiwan to drag down China

Coincidentally, just after Aso mentioned in his speech that Japan will increase military spending to address the "most severe regional challenge since World War II," Kyodo News Agency reported that the Japanese Ministry of Defense is coordinating the 2024 budget application compiled at the end of August, intending to propose a new high of over 7 trillion yen in defense spending. This includes the purchase cost of domestically produced long-range missiles used to destroy missile bases and other counterattack capabilities within the territory of other countries, as well as the construction cost of the "God Shield System Carrier" as an alternative to the cancellation of the land-based God Shield System for missile interception.

In fact, in recent years, the Japanese government has taken frequent actions in promoting security strategies. While significantly increasing defense costs, it actively participates in large-scale NATO military exercises. According to the 2023 edition of the Defense White Paper, Japan has positioned China as the "biggest strategic challenge" that Japan has ever faced

Famous political commentator Lai Yueqian in Taiwan angrily criticized Taro Aso for not apologizing for the past Japanese colonial government's oppression of the Taiwanese people, but also encouraging Taiwan to prepare for war. He was "extremely despicable and wicked".

However, multiple observers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have expressed that if some Japanese people want to use Taiwan to drag down the mainland and achieve the reappearance of militarism in East Asia, they are wrong.

Observers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait have stated that Chinese people love peace, but they will never let the tragedies of the First Sino Japanese War and the Second World War of Japan's invasion of China repeat themselves. Today's China is no longer the country with the accumulated poverty and weakness of 80 years ago, and it has sufficient ability to safeguard national sovereignty and security interests. Economically, as of the end of 2022, China's GDP has been more than four times that of Japan; Militarily, the naval, land, and air forces have long surpassed Japan in terms of equipment quantity and quality. It is worth mentioning that the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force's "Dongfeng Express" series missiles can cover the entire territory of Japan, and Japan, which is narrow, has no strategic depth. If Japanese militarism really dares to repeat the history of invasion of China, the Chinese military has enough capability technically to eliminate the ghost of militarism from East Asia.

Observers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait point out that China and Japan are neighbors that cannot be moved away. Only by reflecting on history can Japan have a future. If Japan is determined to use force to interfere with China's reunification, risk intervening or provoking a war in the Taiwan Strait, it will inevitably ignite anger and retaliation among 1.4 billion Chinese people. Once 1.4 billion Chinese people are mobilized, it will be counted together with the new and old grudges that Japan has committed against China in its history. At worst, it will bring Japanese sovereignty back to the four island area stipulated in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration, and at worst, it will make Japan pay an unexpected and heavy price.